Sparrowhawk kills Blue Tit

It seems that our Greenham garden is now being frequented by the Juvenile Sparrowhawk and its hunting skills are improving. It's mid-morning snack was one of our fledgling Blue Tits. We were only counting them yesterday and commented on there being seven of them. Now there are only six!

The Sparrowhawk is an ambush predator and small birds make up most of the male and juvenile Sparrowhawk's diet. The female, being larger can take much larger birds including Wood Pigeons.

The bird's presence in our garden has freaked out the birds who now make very short visits to the bird feeders before retiring to nearby bushes! It's a beautiful bird though we think it's the same ringed bird that we had a week ago.

This stunning picture expands to 1000x667 pixels when clicked and was taken through a double glazed window at F5.6 1/500s at 400mm on the Canon 100-400mm EF IS lens and Canon 500D body.